One question: HOW IS THE GOODREADS RATING ON THIS BOOK SO HIGH?????? I feel very out of the loop on when we decided books like this are good. For starters, the writing is immature, the characters (to be frank) lack intelligence and substance, and overall this book feels like an adult is trying their very absolute hardest to relate to the kids. So hard, in fact, that there’s a selfie stick moment. Yea, that one hurt me.
Rating: 2 Shells
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING: MARKED SPOILERS LIE AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good things first, because I’m generous like that.
WILL’S CARTOONS!!! They are amazing, clever, and do a really nice job of showing depth to Will’s character. Props to you, screenwriters. I think those are such an interesting idea and they take Will from being that tropey ~troubled~ teen artist to a kid with real struggle and an interesting perspective on that struggle. And that…yup that would be all the things I found good about this book. Whoops.
Writing Style…
Okay, I’m really trying to be more critical here than I am mean. Truly. Please bear with me though because some parts of this book REALLY got me (and not in a great way). I feel like this was written by me when I was twelve. The constant ALL CAPS words to try to be funny…the vague feeling that the author(/screenwriters?) don’t know squat about real teenagers…it just isn’t strong writing. Along with the all caps were the exclamation marks (constantly!!) and the italics (relentlessly). And if you’ve read my This Cruel Design review, you know these are things that BOTHER ME A LOT. (That was an ironic use of all caps, just so we’re clear.) In my opinion, they show an author can’t convey feelings with more complex descriptions so they resort to lazy ways of conveying emotion. Like instead of saying fantastic someone would say very good. Saying very good is the equivalent of using italics for a word. In my opinion, they’re false modifiers that add no real substance to writing. To use them rarely is one thing, but to have those things on almost every page just gets absurd and feels lazy and lacking in style to me as a reader.
Oh, Stella…
I’m gonna start with Stella, but I have problems with every character here. For Stella, I feel like she gets some grit as she develops, but also as she develops her narration becomes almost indiscernible from Will’s (yet another unimpressive writing feat). Okay, and it’s hard to say this next major qualm I have without spoiling but I will try my darnest, Stella almost does the dumbest thing ever at the end of this book. Think about when Michael cooked his foot on the George Foreman grill in The Office. This is that kind of ridiculous. So Stella almost does that thing (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!: GIVES UP A LUNG FOR WILL. CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THAT? MY FAVE WOULD NEVER. OK THAT’S OVER.) and I don’t care at all if it is meant to be romantic or a big gesture, it is just the most ridiculous thing my eyes have ever had to read. The ridiculous thing ends up not happening (thanks goodness), but the fact that I really thought it would happen speaks volumes to what I think about this book. Also, the nurses in this book are fools. At one point an educated nurse (Julie) literally lets Will walk straight out of the hospital despite him just causing a bunch of trouble moments prior. Does reason not need to exist in books? Interesting.
The Ending
I can’t tell you if the ending to this book it supposed to be hopeful or cute. I’m genuinely confused. You know what, I’m gonna say this one flat out. Sorry, I need to be clear. (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!: Clearly Will and Stella won’t be able to start over or anything??? The same problems still exist??? Will left for a reason??? Like, if they could have been five feet apart this whole time why in the world did Will have that whole “I have to leave you” drama??? Like the ending makes NO SENSE!! It is MADDENING!!! This whole book is built on nonsensicals and it just feels so condescending. Seriously, who in their right mind thinks that ending is good? It feels like the author/screenwriter/whoever conceptualized this was like “nah, the kids won’t notice this is dumb because there’s a Heartfelt Moment.” The same problems still exist!!!!! Am I going crazy? Is no one else concerned about this? END OF THE THAT SPOILER TEA) If you can’t read my spoiler parts of this review because you have yet to read this book all I can say is don’t read the book.
Maybe the movie is cute. In fact, I’m sure it is. There is none of the poorly written inner monologue and it has Cole Sprouse. The ending is still dumb and the selfie stick moment is still there, but I think the concept isn’t so cringey, it’s more the writing on top of some poor character work that made this rub me the wrongest way possible. Even still, this book physically hurts me to look back on and I’m disappointed that a book like this has been at the top of the NYT list when so many other quality books exist out there. It’s books like these that make me understand why most adults don’t take YA seriously.
For your reading pleasure and so you know I can’t make this up, here’s a genuine quote from the book I had to read with my own two eyes:
Everyone laughs and Mya pulls out her phone and a selfie stick, holding her arm out to take a group photo.
I really didn’t think I’d have to witness a selfie stick moment in literature in 2018. I’m gobsmacked.
For all the grief I’ve given this book, it still has managed to be at the top of the NYT list for 22 weeks now. So I guess this found its audience out there somewhere. And hey, jokes on me. My buying this book contributed to its success too. Even still, this book is lacking in style and originality (see: The Fault in Our Stars) and pretty much everything I would ever think would be needed to land #1 on the NYT list. But hey, worse books have been bestsellers before this and worse will come after. That’s the beauty of reading, kids.
Books by the Water 